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Before 1901, Australia was not a single federal state but six separate British colonies, each with its own government and political interests. As the colonies grew, support increased for a common national structure to manage defense, trade, immigration, and relations among the territories under a single authority.

On January 1, 1901, the Commonwealth of Australia was created after the British Parliament approved the Australian Constitution. That same year, Australians took part in the first federal election, the first national parliament was formed in Melbourne, and Edmund Barton became the country’s first prime minister. The new system followed the British Westminster model but gave Australia its own federal institutions.

In 1927, the seat of government moved from Melbourne to Canberra, a planned capital placed between Sydney and Melbourne. The opening of the Provisional Parliament House marked a new stage in federal administration. Australia then continued moving away from direct British control. The Statute of Westminster 1931 gave the country full legislative autonomy, while the Australia Act 1986 ended the last formal links to British judicial supervision.

After World War II, the federal government expanded its role through immigration programs that helped reshape Australian society. National politics came to be led mainly by the Liberal-National Coalition and the Australian Labor Party. In the 1970s, the Whitlam government introduced major social reforms before the 1975 constitutional crisis. Later, smaller parties such as the Greens added pressure on debates over republicanism, Indigenous rights, health, education, defense, and foreign policy.